Method of balancing load and method of setting up call using the same in general packet radio service network

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method of balancing a load and method of setting up a call using the load balancing method in a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network, which prevents a load from concentrating on a specific Gateway GPRS Supporting Node (GGSN) in the GPRS network, thus reducing a probability of failure in session establishment due to increased traffic. In the load balancing method, when a Service GPRS Supporting Node (SGSN) connected to a mobile node establishes a session, it selects a GGSN having a smallest number of established sessions among a plurality of GGSNs corresponding to an Access Point Name (APN) included in an Activate PDP Context Request message received from the mobile node and requests the selected GGSN to establish a session, thus solving a problem in which a load concentrates on a specific GGSN.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates, in general, to general packet radioservice systems for providing packet-based wireless communicationservices and, more particularly, to a method of balancing a load andmethod of setting up a call using the load balancing method in a generalpacket radio service network, which solves a phenomenon in which a loadconcentrates on a specific gateway general packet radio service systemsupporting node, thus reducing factors which deteriorate the performanceof services, such as a failure in session establishment.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, in order to extend a data network to a wireless communicationnetwork, the concept of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) has beenproposed. GPRS is defined by a high-speed data transmission serviceprovided when a user accesses an Internet Protocol (IP) network and apacket network through a wireless terminal to transmit packet data in amobile communication system.

The GPRS network allows non-voice information to be added to informationtransmitted or received through a wireless communication system, andenables a connection to the conventional wired Internet, thus enabling auser to use Internet services at a mobile node, such as a mobile phoneor Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) terminal.

FIG. 1 is a view showing the network configuration of an asynchronousmobile communication system including a GPRS network. Reference numeralsused in FIG. 1 are defined below.

Reference numeral 110 represents a mobile node used by a user, whichcorresponds to a mobile phone or PDA terminal. When the user requeststhe mobile node 110 to access GPRS, the mobile node 110 transmits therequest to a higher system, and transmits/receives data by thecompletion of a session establishment.

Reference numeral 120 represents a wireless network which is a wirelessinterface section of data transmission/reception channels to the mobilenode 110. Reference numeral 130 represents a GPRS network capable ofproviding packet services to the wireless network 120. The GPRS network130 includes a Service GPRS Supporting Node (SGSN) 131 for configuringsession information in conjunction with a Home Location Register (HLR)140 and transmitting/receiving data packets to/from the mobile node 110within a service area, and a gateway GPRS supporting node (GGSN) 132connected to a Public Domain Network (PDN) 160 to connect between theGPRS network and an external packet network and then enable packet dataservices to be provided to the mobile node 110 of the user.

Further, reference numeral 140 represents the Home Location Register(HLR), which is a database used to manage various pieces of information,such as terminal information, subscription information, locationinformation and authentication information of a subscriber in wirelesscommunications. Reference numeral 150 represents a Domain Name System(DNS) server, which maintains a database related to domain names and IPaddresses corresponding to the domain names, and provides an IP addressof a destination in response to a request received from the Service GPRSSupporting Node (SGSN) 131.

Further, reference numeral 160 represents the Public Domain Network(PDN), and 170 represents a correspondent node (CN), which the mobilenode 110 connected to the PDN 160 requires to access.

In the above configuration, the SGSN 131 of the GPRS 130 performsfunctions, such as packet routing and transmission, mobility management,logical link management, authentication and billing. The HLR 140operated in conjunction with the SGSN 131 stores and manages locationinformation (for example, cell or visitor location register) and userprofile information (International Mobile Subscriber Identity: IMSI) ofa GPRS subscriber registered in the SGSN 131, etc. Further, the GGSN 132converts GPRS packets transmitted through a tunnel established with theSGSN 131 into suitable Packet Data Protocol (PDP)-format data (forexample, IP, X.25), transmits the PDP-format data to the CorrespondentNode (CN) 170 through the PDP network 160, converts a PDP address ofpacket data received through the PDP network 160 into a Global Systemfor Mobile communications (GSM) address of a GPRS subscriber, convertsthe corresponding packet data into GPRS data, and transmits the GPRSdata to the SGSN 131.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a typical call setup process in the GPRSnetwork of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, call setup in the GPRS network130 starts by transmitting an Activate PDP Context Request message fromthe mobile node 110 requiring a packet data service (that is, GPRS) tothe SGSN 131 connected to the wireless network 120 at step S11.

As described above, the SGSN 131 having received the Activate PDPContext Request message from the mobile node 110 selects an accessibleGGSN 132 using an Access Point Name (APN) included in the receivedmessage, and requests an IP address corresponding to the GGSN 132 fromthe DNS server 150 at step S12.

Therefore, the DNS server 150 searches for the IP address correspondingto the GGSN 132 and transmits the searched IP address to the SGSN 131 atstep S13. The SGSN 131 having received the IP address transmits a CreatePDP Context Request message to the GGSN 132 specified by the IP addressat step S14. The GGSN 132 having received the Create PDP Context Requestmessage performs resource allocation to the mobile node 110 of thecorresponding user in response to the Create PDP Context Requestmessage, and transmits the results of the resource allocation to theSGSN 131 through a Create PDP Context Response message at step S15.Further, the SGSN 131 configures session information on the basis of thecontents of the received response message, and transmits an Activate PDPContext Accept message to the mobile node 110 at step S16. Thereafter,the mobile node 110 performs the transmission/reception of packet datato/from the correspondent node 170 through a tunnel allocated betweenthe SGSN 131 and the GGSN 132.

As described above, in order for the mobile node 110 to be provided withGPRS, the PDP context establishment of allocating a tunnel between theSGSN 131 connected to the mobile node 110 and the GGSN 132 connected tothe correspondent node 170 should be performed.

At this time, the SGSN 131 must search for GGSNs 132 related to APNincluded in the Activate PDP Context Request message received from themobile node 110 and select one among the searched GGSNs 132 so as tocreate PDP contexts. However, occasionally, there may occur a case inwhich two or more GGSNs supporting the corresponding APN exist. In priorart, because GGSN is selected according to specified priority regardlessof the number of sessions established with each GGSN, the same GGSN maybe selected at each time. Therefore, there are problems in that requestsfor a session establishment concentrate on a specific GGSN, whichincreases the probability of failure in session establishment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind theabove problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the presentinvention is to provide a method of balancing a load and method ofsetting up a call using the load balancing method in a General PacketRadio Service (GPRS) network, which prevents a load from concentratingon a specific Gateway GPRS Supporting Node (GGSN), thus reducing aprobability of failure in session establishment and providing optimalservice performance.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention providesa method of balancing a load in a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)network, the GPRS network including a plurality of Service GPRSSupporting Nodes (SGSNs) connected to a mobile node and a plurality ofGateway GPRS Supporting Nodes (GGSNs) connected to a Public DomainNetwork (PDN), wherein each of the SGSNs selects one of a plurality ofGGSNs capable of supporting a same Access Point Name (APN) and thenestablishes a session, the selected one having a smallest number ofestablished sessions.

Preferably, the load balancing method may comprise the steps of a)receiving an Activate PDP Context Request message from the mobile node;b) extracting an Access Point Name (APN) related to a correspondent nodefrom the received Activate PDP Context Request message; c) searching forGGSNs capable of supporting GPRS for the extracted APN; d) comparingnumbers of sessions established with the searched GGSNs, respectively,to each other and selecting a GGSN having a smallest number ofestablished sessions by the SGSN; and e) requesting a sessionestablishment from the selected GGSN.

Preferably, in the load balancing method, the step d) may comprise thesteps of d1) initializing a variable m representing a number ofselectable GGSNs to the number of GGSNs searched at step c), andinitializing a variable n representing selection priorities of the GGSNsto “1”; d2) ascertaining the number of sessions established with each ofthe GGSNs searched at step c); d3) selecting a GGSN having sessions, thenumber of which is n-th in an ascending order, of the searched GGSNs andrequesting an IP address corresponding to the selected GGSN from aDomain Name System (DNS) server; d4) determining whether the IP addresscorresponding to the selected GGSN is obtained from the DNS server; d5)decreasing the variable m by “1” if the IP address is not obtained atstep d4), and determining whether the variable m is “0”; d6)transmitting an error message if the variable m is “0”, while increasingthe variable n by “1” and then performing steps d3) to d6) if thevariable m is not “0”; and d7) setting the selected GGSN to a node fromwhich the SGSN will request a session establishment if the IP address isobtained from the DNS server at step d4).

Preferably, in the load balancing method, the step d2) may be performedso that the SGSN searches for session configuration information storedafter establishing a session with each of the GGSNs.

In addition, the present invention provides a method of setting up acall in a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network, the GPRS networkincluding a plurality of Service GPRS Supporting Nodes (SGSNs) connectedto a mobile node and a plurality of Gateway GPRS Supporting Nodes(GGSNs) connected to a Public Domain Network (PDN), comprising the stepsof a) transmitting an Activate PDP Context Request message includingAccess Point Name (APN) information to a corresponding SGSN by themobile node; b) searching for GGSNs capable of supporting GPRS for APNincluded in the Activate PDP Context Request message by the SGSN havingreceived the Request message; c) treating the Activate PDP ContextRequest message as an error and informing the mobile node that a sessionestablishment is disapproved if any GGSN corresponding to the APN doesnot exist at step b); d) ascertaining a number of sessions establishedwith each of searched GGSNs by the SGSN if one or more GGSNscorresponding to the APN exist at step b); e) requesting from a DomainName System (DNS) server an IP address corresponding to a GGSN having asmallest number of established sessions of the plurality of the searchedGGSNs; f) obtaining the IP address in response to the request andtransmitting a Create PDP Context Request message to the IP address; g)receiving the Create PDP Context Request message, performing resourceallocation and session information configuration, generating a CreatePDP Context Response message and transmitting the Create PDP ContextResponse message to the corresponding SGSN by a GGSN designated by theIP address; and h) receiving the Create PDP Context Response message,configuring session information and transmitting an Activate PDP ContextAccept message to the mobile node by the SGSN.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of thepresent invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view showing the basic construction of an asynchronousmobile communication network including a GPRS network;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a call setup process in the GPRS network;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method of balancing a load according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 a illustrates a table showing a GTP header format used in theGPRS network;

FIG. 4 b illustrates a table showing information elements included in aCreate PDP Context Request message;

FIG. 4 c illustrates a table showing information elements included in aCreate PDP Context Response message; and

FIG. 5 is a view showing the configuration of a session tableimplemented in a SGSN and a GGSN in the GPRS network.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the attached drawings.

Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which the samereference numerals are used throughout the different drawings todesignate the same or similar components.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method of balancing a load according to thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, when receiving an Activate PDP Context Requestmessage from a predetermined mobile node 110 at step S300, the SGSN 131extracts APN information from the received Activate PDP Context Requestmessage and searches for GGSNs supporting a corresponding APN on thebasis of the APN information at step S301.

Generally, the SGSN 131 has information of all of GGSNs 132 included inthe GPRS network 130, and searches the information for any GGSN 132capable of supporting the GPRS provided for the user's desired APN. Atthis time, no GGSN supporting the GPRS provided for the APN may besearched for, and one or more GGSNs may be searched for. In the formercase, an access to the GPRS requested by the mobile node 110 cannot beperformed. In the latter case, a suitable single GGSN should be selectedto perform the access to the GPRS requested by the mobile node 110.

Therefore, after performing the search operation, the SGSN 131determines whether the number of GGSNs capable of supporting the accessto the corresponding APN is “0” at step S302.

As a result of the determination, if any GGSN corresponding to theextracted APN information does not exist, the SGSN 131 cannot processthe received Activate PDP Context Request message and then treats theActivate PDP Context Request message as an error at step S303. At thistime, the SGSN 131 transmits an error message for the request message tothe mobile node 110.

In contrast, if there are one or more GGSNs corresponding to theextracted APN information, the SGSN 131 initializes a variable mrepresenting the number of selectable GGSNs to the number of searchedGGSNs at step S304. Thereafter, the SGSN 131 ascertains the number ofsessions currently established with each of a plurality of searchedGGSNs at step S305. Further, the SGSN 131 initializes a variable nrepresenting selection priorities for the GGSNs to “1” at step S306.

In the above process, the ascertainment of the number of sessions foreach of the searched GGSNs 132, performed by the SGSN 131, is describedin detail.

Generally, an interface between the SGSN 131 and the GGSN 132 in theGPRS network 130 complies with GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP). The GTP isdivided into a GTP-C interface used to transmit control messages and aGTP-U interface used to transmit data. As shown in FIG. 4 a, a GTPheader is constructed so that a Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (TEID) fieldis included and the value of a message type field varies according to amessage type. Further, information elements included in each messagevary depending on a message type. FIG. 4 b illustrates a table showinginformation elements included in a Create PDP Context Request message,and FIG. 4 c illustrates a table showing information elements includedin a Create PDP Context Response message.

In the call setup process described above with reference to FIG. 2, theCreate PDP Context Request message transmitted from the SGSN 131 to theGGSN 132 is configured so that the TEID field of the header shown inFIG. 4 a is set to “0” so as to establish a session with the selectedGGSN 132, an identifier value of the SGSN 131 for an established GTP-Usession is entered in a Tunnel Endpoint Identifier Data I (TEID-U) fieldof the information elements shown in FIG. 4 b, and an identifier valuethereof for an established GTP-C session is entered in a Tunnel EndpointIdentifier Control plane (TEID-C) field of the information elements. TheSGSN 131 transmits the Create PDP Context Request message configured inthis way to the GGSN 132.

The GGSN 132 having received the Create PDP Context Request messagestores therein a TEID value for user traffic included in the Create PDPContext Request message, generates a Create PDP Context Responsemessage, and transmits the Create PDP Context Response message to theSGSN 131. At this time, the Create PDP Context Response message istransmitted, with a value, which is stored in the TEID-C field of theCreate PDP Context Request message received from the SGSN 131 beingentered in the TEID field of the GTP header, and with identifier valuesof the GGSN 132 being entered in the TEID-U and TEID-C fields of theinformation elements.

Consequently, the SGSN 131 and the GGSN 132 configure, store and managesession ID information for the GTP-C and GTP-U interfaces, respectively.As shown in a table of FIG. 5, each session configuration information isformed to include user identification information and TEID-C and TEID-Uvalues generated by the SGSN 131 and the GGSN 132, respectively, withrespect to a single session.

That is, the SGSN 131 stores and manages configuration information usedto identify a session, which the SGSN 131 is establishing currently, sothat the SGSN 131 can identify the currently established session bysearching the stored session configuration information.

Therefore, the SGSN 131 searches the stored session configurationinformation at step S305 for ascertaining the number of sessionsestablished with each of the GGSNs, thus ascertaining the number ofsessions currently established with each of the GGSNs searched at stepS301.

As described above, if the number of sessions currently established witheach of the searched GGSNs has been ascertained, the SGSN 131 selects aGGSN having established sessions, the number of which is n-th in anascending order, among the GGSNs at step S307.

Further, the SGSN 131 requests an IP address corresponding to the GGSN132 selected at step S307 from the DNS server 150 at step S308, anddetermines whether the IP address is obtained from the DNS server 150 inresponse to the request at step S309. If the IP address corresponding tothe selected GGSN 132 is not received from the DNS server 150, theestablishment of a PDP Context with the selected GGSN 132 is notpossible, so that another GGSN should be selected.

Therefore, the SGSN 131 determines whether the IP address correspondingto the selected GGSN is obtained at step S309. If the IP addresscorresponding to the selected GGSN is obtained, a procedure of selectinga GGSN is terminated because a suitable GGSN 132 that will perform theestablishment of a PDP context according to the request from the mobilenode 110 is selected. In contrast, if the obtainment of the IP addresscorresponding to the selected GGSN fails, the SGSN 131 decreases thevariable m representing the number of selectable GGSNs by “1”, andincreases the variable n representing the priorities of GGSNs to beselected by “1” so as to select another GGSN capable of establishing aPDP context at step S310.

Further, the SGSN 131 determines whether the variable m representing thenumber of selectable GGSNs is “0” at step S311. If the variable mrepresenting the number of selectable GGSNs is “0”, the SGSN 131transmits to the mobile node 110 an error message indicating that theestablishment of a PDP context is disapproved because any GGSN capableof supporting GPRS for the APN requested by the mobile node 110 does notexist any longer at step S312. In contrast, if the variable m is not“0”, the SGSN 131 returns to step S307 to select a GGSN havingestablished sessions, the number of which is n-th in an ascending order,among the GGSNs searched at step S301, and then requests an IP addresscorresponding to the selected GGSN from the DNS server 150 at step S308.

Through the above process, if the IP address corresponding to apredetermined one of finally searched GGSNs is obtained, the SGSN 131transmits an Activate PDP Context Request message to the correspondingGGSN 132 shown in FIG. 2 on the basis of the obtained IP address at stepS14.

Therefore, when receiving the Activate PDP Context Request message forthe predetermined APN from the mobile node 110, the SGSN 131 selects aGGSN having a smallest number of currently established sessions, thatis, a smallest amount of traffic, among GGSNs capable of supporting theGPRS for the APN, and transmits the Create PDP Context Request messageto the selected GGSN. That is, rates at which the SGSN 131 selects aplurality of GGSNs capable of supporting GPRS provided for the same APNare made uniform.

Further, the GGSN 132 having received the Create PDP Context Requestmessage generates a Create PDP Context Response message including anallocated TEID value and transmits the response message to the SGSN 131after performing TEID allocation and session information configurationat step S15.

Therefore, from a viewpoint of the plurality of GGSNs 132 provided inthe GPRS network 120, reception rates at which the GGSNs 132 supportingthe same APN receive a Create PDP Context Request message are madeuniform, so that rates at which sessions are established with the GGSNs132 supporting the same APN establish sessions are made uniform.Consequently, traffic concentration on a specific GGSN does not occur,thus realizing load balancing in the GPRS network.

The above-described steps of the present invention can be implemented bya computer-readable program recorded on a recording medium. In thiscase, the computer-readable recording medium includes all the types ofdata recording media in which data readable by a computer system isstored. Further, the program can be executed through distributedprocessing by a plurality of computer systems connected to each otherthrough a network.

As described above, the present invention provides a method of balancinga load and method of setting up a call using the load balancing methodin a GPRS network, which allows a SGSN to select a GGSN having a minimumload at the time of establishing a corresponding session while copingwith APN information received from a mobile node and to request asession establishment from the GGSN, in a call setup process of allowinga wireless terminal to use GPRS, thus reducing a probability of failurein session establishment and improving the service performance of a GPRSsystem.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

1. A method of balancing a load in a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)network, the GPRS network including a plurality of Service GPRSSupporting Nodes (SGSNs) connected to a mobile node and a plurality ofGateway GPRS Supporting Nodes (GGSNs) connected to a Public DomainNetwork (PDN), wherein each of the SGSNs selects one of a plurality ofGGSNs capable of supporting a same Access Point Name (APN) and thenestablishes a session, the selected one having a smallest number ofestablished sessions.
 2. The load balancing method according to claim 1,comprising the steps of: a) receiving an Activate PDP Context Requestmessage from the mobile node; b) extracting an Access Point Name (APN)related to a correspondent node from the received Activate PDP ContextRequest message; c) searching for GGSNs capable of supporting GPRS forthe extracted APN; d) comparing numbers of sessions established with thesearched GGSNs, respectively, to each other and selecting a GGSN havinga smallest number of established sessions by the SGSN; and e) requestinga session establishment from the selected GGSN.
 3. The load balancingmethod according to claim 2, wherein the step d) comprises the steps of:d1) initializing a variable m representing a number of selectable GGSNsto the number of GGSNs searched at step c), and initializing a variablen representing selection priorities of the GGSNs to “1”; d2)ascertaining the number of sessions established with each of the GGSNssearched at step c); d3) selecting a GGSN having sessions, the number ofwhich is n-th in an ascending order, of the searched GGSNs andrequesting an IP address corresponding to the selected GGSN from aDomain Name System (DNS) server; d4) determining whether the IP addresscorresponding to the selected GGSN is obtained from the DNS server; d5)decreasing the variable m by “1” if the IP address is not obtained atstep d4), and determining whether the variable m is “0”; d6)transmitting an error message if the variable m is “0”, while increasingthe variable n by “1” and then performing steps d3) to d6) if thevariable m is not “0”; and d7) setting the selected GGSN to a node fromwhich the SGSN will request a session establishment if the IP address isobtained from the DNS server at step d4).
 4. The load balancing methodaccording to claim 3, wherein the step d2) is performed so that the SGSNsearches session configuration information stored after establishing asession with each of the GGSNs.
 5. A method of setting up a call in aGeneral Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network, the GPRS network includinga plurality of Service GPRS Supporting Nodes (SGSNs) connected to amobile node and a plurality of Gateway GPRS Supporting Nodes (GGSNs)connected to a Public Domain Network (PDN), comprising the steps of: a)transmitting an Activate PDP Context Request message including AccessPoint Name (APN) information to a corresponding SGSN by the mobile node;b) searching for GGSNs capable of supporting GPRS for APN included inthe Activate PDP Context Request message by the SGSN having received theRequest message; c) treating the Activate PDP Context Request message asan error and informing the mobile node that a session establishment isdisapproved if any GGSN corresponding to the APN does not exist at stepb); d) ascertaining a number of sessions established with each ofsearched GGSNs by the SGSN if one or more GGSNs corresponding to the APNexist at step b); e) requesting from a Domain Name System (DNS) serveran IP address corresponding to a GGSN having a smallest number ofestablished sessions of the plurality of the searched GGSNs; f)obtaining the IP address in response to the request and transmitting aCreate PDP Context Request message to the IP address; g) receiving theCreate PDP Context Request message, performing resource allocation andsession information configuration, generating a Create PDP ContextResponse message and transmitting the Create PDP Context Responsemessage to the corresponding SGSN by a GGSN designated by the IPaddress; and h) receiving the Create PDP Context Response message,configuring session information and transmitting an Activate PDP ContextAccept message to the mobile node by the SGSN.
 6. The call setup methodaccording to claim 5, further comprising the step of repeatedlyperforming an operation of requesting from the DNS server an IP addresscorresponding to a GGSN having a next smallest number of establishedsessions until the IP address corresponding to the previously selectedGGSN is obtained if the IP address is not obtained from the DNS server.